MTG Costumes and Outfits: The 23 Best-Dressed Characters in Magic

Last updated on April 21, 2024

Morphling | Illustration by rk post

Who wore it better? Well, hopefully the answer is you! But even if you aren’t a cosplayer, you're at least here for a small look at 30 years of MTG fashion.

Today, I'm doing a dive for deep cuts to highlight some of the most iconic looks in Magic history! Planeswalkers and legendary creatures are the hallmark Magic characters, so those are the clothes and costumes we think about.  Bringing those characters to life is the creative space where Magic cosplayers do their own magic. But today, I’d like to highlight some classic Magic looks and the well-dressed characters embodying those and give a tour of everyday Magic fashion over time.

Perhaps these could inspire some cosplay, but even just as a gallery of appreciation of some great MTG art, I’m sure you’ll find some looks in this list that struck you in your own history with the game.

The ranking here is quite arbitrary and connected to how the looks have taken up residence in my imagination over the years. I’d be curious how many of these looks would also appear on your list. Let’s see!

#23. Memory Lapse

This is more of an honorable mention and a request. Can someone please make a hat with at least one, but preferably all, removable brain puzzle pieces like Mark Tedin’s famous art for the Homelands Memory Lapse? I want to wear one and slowly remove a puzzle piece for every round I drop. I have no skill in costume creation, so I don’t know how big an ask that is, but send me a pic if you pull it off!

#22. Gifts Ungiven

This entry holds a key spot in Magic’s history. The original art for Gifts Ungiven by D. Alexander Gregory is super evocative. The shadows make it hard to tell if the figure is really a soratami monk or not, but the head/hair work and the elaborately patterned dress would certainly garner some looks!

#21. Falkenrath Aristocrat

Falkenrath Aristocrat is the most awesome looking vampire that’s not legendary. The huge collar! The hair! Is the whole bottom half of Igor Kieryluk’s white dress soaked in blood, or is the bottom a shade of red that’s convenient for cleaning after wading through rivers of blood? Since our aristocrat was apparently a bit overexcited at tonight’s party, we may never know.

#20. Thirst for Knowledge

Is the headgear for Thirst for Knowledge easier to make than that on Neurok Commando or Riddlesmith? They all seem like a lot and all would be sweet in person. The neurok look from Mirrodin is a rich mixture of cool and horrifying, but the wizard on Ben Thompson’s original art for Thirst for Knowledge also has some sweet blue robes with metal armor accents. The bulbous hat alone is worth the price of admission.

#19. Fatal Push

For me, the big question on Eric Deschamps' art from Aether Revolt on this Modern staple is whether or not that dude would have fallen if the weight of that tallboy helmet wasn’t too much. If you dress like the guy from Fatal Push, people will want you to do the pose, which might be too big an ask depending on your balance and core strength.

#18. Setessan Champion

One of the hidden criteria for this list is that I didn’t want to pick outfits that showed a lot of skin, of which there are many in the history of MTG art. That feels like a whole other genre. Setessan Champion isn’t very risqué and their attire is more suited to the sweltering temps we had at MagicCon Barcelona last year than any version of Jace or Ajani, but you still need some confidence in your limbs to wear it. Emrah Elmasli’s helmet alone would be a ton of fun to sport around a convention center.

#17. Balance

You gotta respect the choice to insist on standing out even when armor obscures your entire body. The knight in the original Mark Poole art for Balance accessorizes with a teal shirt (tunic?), a chain-bedecked golden vest with a wicked collar, and outrageous bird feathers bedazzling the helmet. It’s a heck of a fashion choice for a card that forces players to sacrifice extra stuff on the battlefield!

#16. Gifted Aetherborn

Gifted Aetherborn comes down to whether you like Ryan Yee’s filigree mask well enough to wear it all day. Such a tremendous design, though!

#15. Edgewall Innkeeper

Okay, maybe this one’s for me as I’m like two weeks more without a cut to get that hair style. I know Matt Stewart’s great art for Edgewall Innkeeper might hit you with too many Throne of Eldraine power creep flashbacks to want to wear the look, but I’m all for merchant class finery covered by a dingy apron that says citizen more than peasant to me!

#14. Counterspell

The Alpha Counterspell by Mark Poole is iconic in Magic. The cultivated mullet and tri-forked beard alone are a heck of a look!

But we’re here for the banana-yellow bladed collar and raised sprocket shoulder. And then the tooth and mini skull necklace just in case it all seems too sedate. I’ve always wanted to see the look with the implied giant yellow cape, as a hint for future cosplayers.

#13. Mystical Tutor

I wonder why all the wizards in the 90s wore yellow. Perhaps it was inspired by the almost complimentary color scheme with the blue border? I've always loved the chill vibes from David O’Connor’s Mystical Tutor. We’ve interrupted their reading, wearing a saffron hood draped over a Ferrari red robe and a forest green tunic. Those colors are not chill at all! And neither is casting this card on turn 1 of a Commander game!

#12. Morphling

Goggles that do nothing? Check. Harlequin patterned shoulder pads? Check. Bracers studded with small telescopes? Checkmate! RK Post’s Morphling terrorized formats in its day. Even though it’s likely been power crept out of formats and even out of the combo space, you can’t power creep this art! This is a deeper, boomer cut, but if a pair of Morphlings walked down the hall of a MagicCon, I would kind of lose it.

#11. Jester’s Cap

Dan Frazier’s Jester's Cap isn't a full look, but that’s good for the Magic player who’s not ready to commit to full cosplay because they need something removable so they can spike the RCQ. There’s a hint of a high collared jacket under the iconic hat in the casual chase card of the late 90s, but even without the jacket and face paint, that hat is righteous.

#10. Elvish Visionary

The iconic card and its iconic art by D. Alexander Gregory! The patterned dress and the stiffer duster/coat strike quite the figure in the emerging (fading?) light illuminating Elvish Visionary. You won’t be able to bring that light along, of course, which means you’ll have to decide whether you want to do the arm wrap in its presumed green or in the apparent rose. It's likely a conversation starter either way.

#9. Hostage Taker

There are many Ixalan pirates worth cosplaying, but I’d be Cube staple Hostage Taker! You’ve got all the over-the-top bits you want when playing a pirate, from the billion layers of blue fabric to buckles, knives and swords to so, so, so many golden baubles. For me it’s the huge athwartships hat that does it, though.

#8. Delver of Secrets

A great option for the hair-challenged among us, the original Delver of Secrets art displays Nils Hamm's signature dark whimsy in all its glory. The robes are simple enough, but that old timey diving suit chest piece is sweet, and if you carried your stuff in the round cage, people would get it. Well, Legacy players, at least.

#7. Deathrite Shaman

Steve Argyle’s art still repays close inspection, although I swear the sculpted check-out-my-ab-armor piece looks like a dragon snout from a certain angle. Now that you can’t ever unsee that, if you pull this costume together you can now decide how you roll with it. The hood is sweet, as are all the details of the armor, especially the unique scaled shoulder pieces.

#6. Suture Priest

It’s a tough ask to dress up like a Phyrexian. But if I was going to do it, Suture Priest would be my choice. Combining the absolutely creepy Phyrexian Unlife look of the porcelain mask bleeding oil from the eyes with an absolutely gnarly bit of asymmetrical armor/enamel (!?), Igor Kieryluk captures a hard-core look. It’s hard to dress up like a Praetor, but this is great.

#5. Thraben Inspector

Most players probably liked it better when Thraben Inspector was the best 1-drop creature in Magic, in those halcyon days before Modern Horizons. Matt Stewart does such a great job with the facial expression (which of course they will want you to do in all pictures!) and the awesome hat that you don’t at first notice all the little details. There’s a hat on a helmet on a hood! And there’s a weird bit of neck armor that doesn’t seem quite flush enough to protect against vampire bites or garrotings, both of which are likely occurrences on Innistrad.

#4. Monastery Swiftspear

For a long time, this was the red aggressive creature, and this art by Steve Argyle is indelible. Getting the layers of fabric, wood, and leather together for a Monastary Swiftspear costume would be quite the project but boy would it be worthwhile!

#3. Carnival of Souls

Davvol here is presumably legendary, but as yet we have no official card for him, just appearances and flavor text on cards like Carnival of Souls. An infamously weird card, Brian Snoddy’s iconic art shows us Davvol under duress, which highlights his wacky wardrobe. From the strange and iconic hat thing which would be a challenge to pull off IRL to the open space helmet collar to the sigiled red shirt, Davvol’s look and this card are one of a kind.

#2. Dark Confidant

Bob Maar is still looking good in the original artwork by Ron Spears in Dark Confidant. Pick a pattern, any pattern! We got that! And two layers of poofy fabric covered by layers of armor pieces and even more fabrics. Protip: you’re gonna need to review your smoky eye tutorials before you roll into the LGS.

#1. Soul Warden

Is there another archetype staple that has had only one piece of art for 25 years? That’s enough to elevate Soul Warden to the top of the list as the most iconic nonlegendary Magic look. Randy Gallegos nails it with a toga look bedazzled with gold squares and cuneiform accents. Then there’s the bluish veil/wrap and the floating jewels creating a kind of mystical tiara. This would be the most recognizable look at any Magic event you wore It to.

Wrap Up

Elvish Visionary | Illustration by D. Alexander Gregory

There’re so many more great looks in Magic I wanted to include, from Voldaren Epicure to Professional Face-Breaker, but pointing out that Sample Collector wears the hat the best doesn’t make the look iconic. Yet. Recent cards will need a minute.

One reason Magic is the greatest game is the awesome art throughout the years, stuff that really evokes the mood, the idea, the story. It makes the world feel lived in and nothing gets lived in more than our clothes.

If you came here for cosplay ideas, did I convince you to give a non-legend and non-planeswalker a try? If you’re just here for a romp through Magic fashion, did this hit the mark?

Do you have a favorite look I missed? Let us know in the comments or on Discord!